Hi Guys. I have a Star Wars Data East pinball machine that I got from an online pinball company. I will not mention their name but I will never order from them again. As my first pinball machine, I paid WAY too much for this 'refurbished' machine. $4495 before shipping.

Anyway, I received the machine and was very disappointed in the condition. From the broken power cord still wrapped in electrical tape from the previous owner to the peeling paint on the back box to the peeling paint and deep wood chips on the main cabinet, very disappointed. The most disappointing part is the gameplay due to playfield issues.

I don't know much about pinball machines but there are vinyl stickers that have been placed on the playfield in certain areas that are REALLY thick. They stick up about 1/64" or more. The problem is that they occasionally stop the ball. How do I fix this? The vinyls are stuck on really well.

I'll post some pictures when I get home. I don't want to rat out the pinball company that sold it to me. Maybe I just expected too much for $4495. Cracked pop bumper caps, etc. Just seems a bit crappy. Barely shopped. Just very disappointing.

Since I bought that machine, I've picked up a few others and have learned what machines should be for the price. Total bummer.

Yeah. I feel pretty dim for having bought it. I'm in California, Los Angeles area. As it stands, the game is much better in my memory as a kid.

Yeah. I just called the gentleman who sold me the machine. We've discussed profits and such and I completely understand. As I told him, disregarding the cosmetic flaws like cracked caps, electrical tape, etc. is one thing that I can correct myself and even overlook but the ball being stopped by playfield repair is unacceptable.

He did offer to by it back for $3000 if I pay shipping back to him. I might do it because I will never be able to recoup that much off of this machine. It was paid for by credit card. I've talked to the credit card company and it looks like I do have recourse.

I told him that I would send him pictures tomorrow. I'll post them up here also. It's a major bummer. He said that he probably bought the machine for $3k to begin with. I find that hard to believe because this machine is nowhere near that value on the private market. I've only seen this machine sell for that on Ebay. I figure I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and see if he can make this right before I try to crucify anyone. He's a business man. Hopefully he understands the benefit to repairing situations like this.

In the end, I would even be happy with him refunding minus shipping costs. Offering $3k for the machine to come back to him is a little bit of an "FU". Again, I will try to give him a chance.

Thanks very much. I'm going to send him pictures tomorrow. I'm going to ask for a refund minus shipping both directions. Just asking for the sale amount $4495.00.

It sucks for me to be out that money but I'd rather have that money to pick up a cleaner machine.

I took a bunch of pictures. I'm not sure if you can tell from them but here goes. These are the pop bumper caps. All four broken when I received this unit.

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These pictures show the main problem which is the raised areas in the playfield that cause the ball to hang up.

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These are the same areas without the ball on the ledges. It's hard to see but these are very thick.

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The peeling paint on the cabinet and the cable

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Just doesn't seem like a fair deal.

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I spoke with him today. I'm sending the unit back to him. I agreed not to take a refund but credit on a different machine. He will be sending me detailed pictures of a different machine. I'm going to probably go with a different game all together. He's cooperating so I'm going to give this a go.

My feeling is that if he makes good then no reason to snap on him so quickly. If it goes worse then obviously, I'd say he would deserve a beating. I'm not standing around with a pitchfork waiting. Just want my stuff. If I need to, ill go did the pitchfork out of the attic and round up the lynch mob.

Ill see what he responds with.

Attack from Mars - List Price $8995. I'm going to try to negotiate with him a little.

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I understand why it's $9K since he's a retail seller. If you were to buy this machine on Craigslist or some other method of that nature, it might be a $5K to $7K machine max. He is responsible for it working when it reaches the customer and offers a warranty with the machine when you buy it. I'm not sure how the warranty works exactly but let's just assume it does for now. Overhead for a facility to operate and showroom machines, etc. Workers, advertising, etc. It all adds up. Seems like typical profit margin stuff to me.

The key is that "refurbished" and "restored" are two entirely different animals when it comes to these machines. I learned this the hard way. Restored costs $10K+. Refurbished means after being purchased from Craigslist, dead skin dust from the past 20 years gets vacuumed out and bulbs replaced. WD-40 sprayed in the appropriate areas and then the unit may undergo the worlds poorest color match and chip repair job. Then it gets wrapped very well and shipped out.

My only major issue is that the Star Wars machine I received looks like hell. Will the raised areas in the playfield, it's not ready to play unless I spend some time correcting it and the power cord being electrical taped to repair is not safe. To send a machine out for $5K in that condition requires some serious balls. "Extra Ball you have..." as Yoda might say in the game.